Nikki Finke Thinks Beautiful Women Can't Be Funny

[quote]"Listen up, Hollywood: Beautiful actresses are not funny. They don’t know how to do comedy ... Only women who grew up ugly and stayed ugly, or through plastic surgery became beautiful, can pull off sitcoms or standups ... Because it’s all about emotional pain and humiliation and rising above both by making people laugh with you instead of at you. So stop casting beautiful actresses when you should be giving ugly women a chance." — Nikki Finke, clearly peeved about Julie Bowen's Emmy win.

Come to think of it I think Garofalo's point was beautiful women who were TRYING to be funny. Sorry r6. I'm with you.

by Anonymous

reply 8

09/24/2012

She's been awfully venomous lately

by Anonymous

reply 9

09/24/2012

Elizabeth Banks is funny.

by Anonymous

reply 10

09/24/2012

No she isn't, R10, but Anna Faris is. So are all of R3's suggestions, but some of them weren't beautiful.

by Anonymous

reply 11

09/24/2012

[quote] it’s all about emotional pain and humiliation and rising above both

Yes, because we all know that beautiful people have [italic]never[/italic] felt any pain, if they feel anything at all.

by Anonymous

reply 12

09/24/2012

I sorta agree with her.

by Anonymous

reply 13

09/24/2012

Joanna Lumley, anyone?

by Anonymous

reply 14

09/24/2012

But none of them are ugly by any means, R11. Ugliness is her essential ingredient. The worst that I can say about the list is that least attractive are at least pretty or cute.

by Anonymous

reply 15

09/24/2012

Greta Garbo gave the greatest comedic performance by a woman in NINOTCHKA. Perfection. And she ain't ugly.

by Anonymous

reply 16

09/24/2012

Ahem

by Anonymous

reply 17

09/24/2012

If ugliness were key....I'd have an Emmy.

by Anonymous

reply 18

09/24/2012

Funny, I knew Mary Tyler Moore's name would pop up in this thread.

by Anonymous

reply 19

09/24/2012

Who's NIkki Finke? Obviously those that R3 listed disprove her point. You can also add Marilyn Monroe who was certainly cast in several comedies and that seemed to work out for her.

You can add several very attractive stars like Sandra Bullock and Debra Messing . Goldie Hawn in her day before bad plastic surgery was beautiful and very funny.

I will agree that Julie Bowen is funny on Modern Family when she's handed a script but not so much in real life. But Sofia Vergara is very beautiful as well and is very funny on the show and shows some of that humor in interviews and other places.

It seems there's always someone mouthing off on what women can't do I guess to keep them in their place. But Nikki got this wrong. It seems more true that a hot good looking guy is less likely to be funny (on TV.) But still I don't mind if they continue to cast them in comedies.

by Anonymous

reply 20

09/24/2012

I wrote Nikki Finke this evening (her address is on her website) and suggested the names r3 lists as proof beautiful women can be great comediennes.

She wrote me back almost immediately--here's what she wrote:

"you are entitled to your opinion, and I'm entitled to mine.

p.s.i find the women you list either not funny or not beautiful."

by Anonymous

reply 21

09/24/2012

[R11], yes, Banks is very funny on 30 Rock.

Speaking of 30 Rock, Tina Fey is attractive and very funny. So is Amy Poehler.

Most male comedians are ugly. I can't think of a handsome comedian.

by Anonymous

reply 22

09/24/2012

Most of the comedians sold to us as funny are both ugly and extremely unfunny. I wonder why?

In my life, I know about 16 people whose senses of humor are intelligent, quick, genuinely hilarious, non-irritating and almost always "on." In other words, they're most often in a comical persona.

Of those, slightly more of them are women than men. They range from average-looking to extremely good-looking.

I feel like many beautiful women who choose Hollywood have just always expected to play an ingenue; likewise, ingenue-minded women are auditioned for these roles. On the other hand, I've seen absolutely GORGEOUS and tremendously funny women in professional theatre--who would totally steal a show, laugh-wise.

by Anonymous

reply 28

09/24/2012

Dane Cook is (supposedly) hot and (supposedly) funny. I find him to be neither and rather smug.

by Anonymous

reply 29

09/24/2012

R21, at least she wrote back to you.

by Anonymous

reply 30

09/24/2012

Nikki used to go by the first name Julie.

by Anonymous

reply 31

09/24/2012

[quote]you are entitled to your opinion, and I'm entitled to mine.

[quote]p.s.i find the women you list either not funny or not beautiful."

So it's 9:00 on the west coast and she immediately whips back this response? Either she has no life and is sitting around waiting to hear back about this from amyone or she's in high defensiveness mode right now after getting feedback all day long. Regardless, it's stupid.

by Anonymous

reply 32

09/24/2012

She posted a trailer for "Bridesmaids" about four months before the movie was released. She wrote an entire piece about how no one wants to see women acting like that, and that it was going to be a huge flop and embarrassment. She had to suck it when it was one of the biggest hits of the year, and her website is all about which film is at the top of the box office. She's an obese self-hating shut-in who has only taken one picture her entire life: that late sixties black & white Sears portrait studio, side angle looking off into the distance, picture that she has used for decades.

by Anonymous

reply 33

09/24/2012

She could have said "as a rule, non beautiful women are more likely to be hilarious" and everyone would be sharing stories about the size 8 woman at work who's genuinely funny, their aunt who's got the most sardonic wit, and their former, grey-haired professor who dressed awfully and was unfailingly clever.

So I'll say it: non beautiful people [italic]are[/italic] more likely to be hilarious. There's more of them and the conditions necessary for humor are more likely to be there.

by Anonymous

reply 34

09/24/2012

I guess I differentiate between comedic actresses and comediennes. There are very few beautiful comediennes - off the top of my head I really can't think of any but there must be some. And, no, Tina Fey is not beautiful.

Acting goofy or funny reading someone else's lines is not the same thing as creating the humor which is often borne from pain.

I also think someone who is beautiful but grew up thinking they were not may fit the bill. It's all about the impetus to make fun of yourself and get people to laugh with you - Nikki's not completely wrong. You just can't make a blanket statement like she did.

by Anonymous

reply 35

09/24/2012

R21, good for her for writing back to you. I've heard before she did this.

by Anonymous

reply 36

09/24/2012

I beg to differ

by Anonymous

reply 37

09/24/2012

Here Wiki bio says that she appears occasionally on TV?

by Anonymous

reply 38

09/24/2012

I disagree about Garbo in Ninotchka but maybe that's because I read the script before seeing the movie, which is almost always a guarantee of disappointment no matter how good the final product is. However that's just a matter of taste and la Finke has just proven how stupid she is. Or just insanely jealous of Marilyn.

by Anonymous

reply 39

09/25/2012

Seems like it's about time for one of her medical crises/vacation/breakdowns.

by Anonymous

reply 40

09/25/2012

WHo's that tripping over my BRIDGE?

by Anonymous

reply 41

09/25/2012

[quote]So it's 9:00 on the west coast and she immediately whips back this response?

R32: exhibit A of the typically closed minded nine to fiver. Personally I often work Sunday evenings and I'm not even writing professionally about weekend box offices.

by Anonymous

reply 42

09/25/2012

Wrong, R42. I work a salaried position in a deadline driven industry (marketing and consumer research) and I sometimes have to cram two work weeks into one. I don't like it much, but that's the way it is because it's my obligation to the company. I do relish my personal life, though.

Finke's her own boss and she immediately responded defensively to someone she doesn't know and to whom she has no obligations. Yeah, this isn't a nine to fiver mentality. What would you call it?

I hope your not a mind reader when you workself to the bone on Sundays.

by Anonymous

reply 43

09/25/2012

She's not a writer, but Lauren Graham is gorgeous and very funny.

by Anonymous

reply 44

09/25/2012

Nikki Finke is stupid. She thinks beautiful women never suffers from low self-esteem or been bullied or gone through pain. Just wow.

I thinks its more true for male actors, hunks seldom play funny roles.

by Anonymous

reply 45

09/25/2012

And yet, R32/R43, you remain close minded about life and the professional obligations of others. There is NOTHING unusual or "sad" about a self-employed person working on a Sunday evening. For many of us it is par for the course. For many you have to prepare for the coming work week and for Finke and other reporters and bloggers her work is pretty much a daily function. Working for yourself puts added pressures on you that an "employee" cannot begin to imagine.

Sorry but you're attempt to ridicule her for a quick email response fails. I applaud her for a timely and polite response. I still don't understand the negatives she gets here - the woman has paid her dues as a serious journalist and remains one of the few real reporters in the industry. Did she make some homophobic remark once or say something negative about Brokeback Mountain?

by Anonymous

reply 46

09/26/2012

That's "your" not you're above.

by Anonymous

reply 47

09/26/2012

R35 summed it up perfectly.

by Anonymous

reply 48

09/26/2012

Women who botox have rigid, boring faces.

by Anonymous

reply 49

09/26/2012

You don't understand because you are undiscerning idiot, R47. You first attempt to crap on my work ethic and box me into a (probably blue collar) 9 to 5 job as a lesser person who does not understand the obligations of the wider world and then you do it again assuming I don't know the obligations of a self-employed person. Seriously, is this your attempt to defend Finke's childish and defensive response to a childish and defensive story?

I suspect if the webmaster were to check your IP, it will lead Deadline related address.

by Anonymous

reply 50

09/26/2012

How is there not one photo of this woman other than the hilarious black and white one she obviously thinks is her best shot.

People have been talking about getting a recent pic of her for decades. Bret Easton Ellis posted on twitter that she lives in his building in LA. Everyone she must encounter would have a camera on them, and NOTHING?!

How is this possible? Does she order everything from Pink Dot, and spend all her time eating Little Debbie snackcakes while rubbing it to girl-on-girl porn on x-hamster?

by Anonymous

reply 51

09/27/2012

I thought Charlize Theron was both brilliant AND funny in that Young Adult film...she definitely elevated that material.

by Anonymous

reply 52

09/27/2012

Charlize is gorgeous and funny. The young Brooke Shields was beautiful & she is very good at comedy.

by Anonymous

reply 53

09/27/2012

Charlize seems like she'd be funny in real life as well. Not in a stand-up comedy kind of way, but like she'd make you laugh during casual conversation.

by Anonymous

reply 54

09/27/2012

Debra Messing is pretty, R5?

by Anonymous

reply 55

10/11/2012

Brooke Shields can't do comedy. Totally wooden. Cybill Shepard can pull off a decent slapstick. Debra Messing gives great slapstick and is funny but she is not pretty up close and in person. Her nose job is atrocious. Megan Mullaly, on the other hand IS pretty in person but doesn't come off well on film.

Um, only the single most important journalist in show business today, and operator of the Web site that EVERYONE in Hollywood reads throughout the day? Which is not to say she isn't a total cunt and has a number of stupid opinions, including this one.

And R32/R46? Please STOP. Nikki often works bizarre hours, as anyone who's noted the time stamps on her Deadline posts can attest. It's not unusual for her to post shit at 2am or 3am Pacific time. That, however, is entirely her prerogative, and also part of her general mystique. Also, her peons (staff journalists) do most of the Deadline posts during regular work hours.

by Anonymous

reply 58

10/11/2012

If some of the guys named in r24's post can be considered "handsome," then Debra Messing can be considered pretty.

by Anonymous

reply 59

10/12/2012

Thelma fucking Todd!

by Anonymous

reply 60

10/12/2012

Thelma Harper of Raytown, MO!

by Anonymous

reply 61

10/12/2012

I think Cameron Diaz does comedy quite well, so does Jenny McCarthy. Add Drew Barrymore to the list. Also agree with Anna Faris.

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